[Ferro-Alloys.com]Naturally, this has led to speculation that China's economic trend is down, not up, so commodities are down notably today: iron ore down 6.2 percent, copper down 2.3 percent, aluminum down 2.4 percent. Risks remained in China because fundamental overcapacity still existed, Chief Financial Officer Aditya Mittal told reporters as the Luxembourg-based company reported a drop in quarterly earnings. "The biggest impact on the steel mill margins has been the drop in steel prices, with domestic rebar down $61/mt from May 3", said Miriam Falk, senior analyst at Platts MVS.

 

Spot prices of billet, a semi-finished steel product, regarded as a key reference point for the physical market, have tumbled over the last few days, traders said.

 

Stockpiles of iron ore held at ports across China increased 1.4 per cent to 99.85 million tons last week to the highest since March 2015, according to data from Shanghai Steelhome Information Technology Co.

 

This year's improvement in steel demand surprised Chinese mills as the industry had expected further weakness in 2016 after a significant contraction in sales last year, according to Goldman.

 

Other commodities traded on Chinese platforms also dropped, with Shanghai nickel down almost 2 percent, tin off 2.4 percent and aluminum down 2.5 percent.

 

"In the next two to three months we might see some seasonal factors kicking in to cool prices down and drive speculative buyers away", said Judy Zhu, an analyst with Standard Chartered in Shanghai, adding that demand should gradually improve over six to eight months.

 

Other steelmaking raw material futures also fell, with metallurgical coke slumping 6.3 percent to 936 yuan a ton and coking coal shedding 5.6 percent to 655.5 yuan by 0306 GMT. Check Metal Bulletin's rolling report here.

 

The selling also hit agricultural futures.

 

File picture of a labourer working in a steel factory in Qingdao, east China's Shandong province, June 15, 2013.

 

Iron ore sagged again on Tuesday, fulfilling widespread expectations that a bust would follow a brief boom as a trading frenzy in China unwound and swelling inventories revived concerns about oversupply.

 

Article from Internet for Reference